A microfluidic vesicle screening platform: monitoring the lipid membrane permeability of tetracyclines.

For many drugs including antibiotics such as tetracyclines it is crucial that the molecule has the ability to quickly and passively permeate lipid membranes. Hence, the understanding of the permeability in relation to the molecular structure is an important aspect to rationally design novel pharmaceutically active compounds with high bioavailability. Here, we present a versatile method to study the kinetics of tetracycline permeation across liposome membranes on a microchip.

Droplet microfluidics with magnetic beads: a new tool to investigate drug-protein interactions.

In this study, we give the proof of concept for a method to determine binding constants of compounds in solution. By implementing a technique based on magnetic beads with a microfluidic device for segmented flow generation, we demonstrate, for individual droplets, fast, robust and complete separation of the magnetic beads. The beads are used as a carrier for one binding partner and hence, any bound molecule is separated likewise, while the segmentation into small microdroplets ensures fast mixing, and opens future prospects for droplet-wise analysis of drug candidate libraries.

Advances in microfluidics for drug discovery.

Importance Of The Field: Microfluidics is considered as an enabling technology for the development of unconventional and innovative methods in the drug discovery process. The concept of micrometer-sized reaction systems in the form of continuous flow reactors, microdroplets or microchambers is intriguing, and the versatility of the technology perfectly fits with the requirements of drug synthesis, drug screening and drug testing.

Areas Covered In This Review: In this review article, we introduce key microfluidic approaches to the drug discovery process, highlighting the latest and promising achievements in this field, mainly from the years 2007 - 2010.

Lipid-bilayer permeation of drug-like compounds.

Lipid-bilayer permeation is determinant for the disposition of xenobiotics in the body. It controls the pharmacokinetic behavior of drugs and is, in many cases, a prerequisite for intracellular targeting. Permeation of in vivo barriers is in general predicted from lipophilicity and related parameters.

Lipid membrane interactions of indacaterol and salmeterol: do they influence their pharmacological properties?

This study compares the lipid membrane interactions of indacaterol, an ultra long acting beta-2 agonist that is given once a day, to salmeterol, a twice a day beta-2 agonist, in order to elucidate the potential mechanisms leading to their different pharmacological properties. Salmeterol but not indacaterol perturbed dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine membranes. While the liposome partitioning of the two compounds was similar, independent of the lipid composition, the membrane affinity of indacaterol was two-fold greater than that of salmeterol when rafts, i.

Cancer stem cell analysis and clinical outcome in patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

Purpose: Cancer stem cells (CSC) are thought to represent the population of tumorigenic cells responsible for tumor development. The stem cell antigen CD133 identifies such a tumorigenic population in a subset of glioblastoma patients. We conducted a prospective study to explore the prognostic potential of CSC analysis in glioblastoma patients.

Interaction kinetics of salmeterol with egg phosphatidylcholine liposomes by surface plasmon resonance.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) Biacore and equilibrium dialysis were applied to investigate the membrane affinities of salmeterol and propranolol and the kinetic interactions of salmeterol with egg phosphatidylcholine liposomes. The two methods revealed similar affinity values; however, they were dependent on the investigated drug concentrations. The kinetic experiments with salmeterol were optimized to obtain pseudo-first-order kinetics that were independent of the drug concentration.

Identification and expansion of human colon-cancer-initiating cells.

Colon carcinoma is the second most common cause of death from cancer. The isolation and characterization of tumorigenic colon cancer cells may help to devise novel diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Although there is increasing evidence that a rare population of undifferentiated cells is responsible for tumour formation and maintenance, this has not been explored for colorectal cancer.

Influence of local environment on the differentiation of neural stem cells engrafted onto the injured spinal cord.

Objectives: In vitro, neural stem cells (NSCs) proliferate as undifferentiated spheroids and differentiate into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. These features make NSCs suitable for spinal cord (SC) reconstruction. However, in vivo experiments have demonstrated that in the injured SC transplanted NSCs either remain undifferentiated or differentiate into the astrocytic phenotype.

Kinetic and equilibrium studies on the polyazamacrocycle neotetren: metal-complex formation and DNA interaction.

The macrocyclic polyamine 2,5,8,11,14-pentaaza[15]-[15](2,9)[1,10]phenanthrolinophane (neotetren) is studied in its ability to coordinate Cu(ii) even at very low pH values and to interact, as a metal complex, with DNA. The kinetics and equilibria for 1 : 1 and 2 : 1 metal-ligand complexes formation are studied by the stopped-flow method and UV spectrophotometry. Differently protonated complexes are formed, with rate constants much lower than that of water exchange at copper(II) and other Cu(II)/amine systems, this behaviour being ascribed to ring effects and intra-molecular hydrogen bonds.

Molecular basis of dystrobrevin interaction with kinesin heavy chain: structural determinants of their binding.

Dystrobrevins are a family of widely expressed dystrophin-associated proteins that comprises alpha and beta isoforms and displays significant sequence homology with several protein-binding domains of the dystrophin C-terminal region. The complex distribution of the multiple dystrobrevin isoforms suggests that the variability of their composition may be important in mediating their function. We have recently identified kinesin as a novel dystrobrevin-interacting protein and localized the dystrobrevin-binding site on the cargo-binding domain of neuronal kinesin heavy chain (Kif5A).